PCG articles Links and Discussion March 2024

[Zed Clampet]

Google develops an AI that will actually play games with you

Hey Google, kill that sucker.

www.pcgamer.com

This seems pretty cool, but I think it's ridiculous to call it a "human-like gaming companion". It's not like it'll be a replacement for the social connection you get from playing with other people, it'll be like a robot butler you can order around.

I can definitely see people getting attached to it, though, especially if they have distinct personalities.

 

[Pifanjr]

I can definitely see people getting attached to it, though, especially if they have distinct personalities.

Oh, absolutely, but I don't think that should be encouraged or normalized. At least not as a replacement for human connection.

 

[Zloth]

It's not like it'll be a replacement for the social connection you get from playing with other people, it'll be like a robot butler you can order around.

Sounds like a new twist on the Turing test to me!

 

[Brian Boru]

I don't think that should be encouraged or normalized. At least not as a replacement for human connection.

Hang on. You're saying you don't think the average multiplayer 'connection' can be improved on? That the toxic cesspool we've admired from afar is as good as it gets.

I've got a pinecone sitting in front of me here which provides a better social experience! Roll on AI for pinecones, it would be pineconic!

 

[Pifanjr]

Hang on. You're saying you don't think the average multiplayer 'connection' can be improved on? That the toxic cesspool we've admired from afar is as good as it gets.

I've got a pinecone sitting in front of me here which provides a better social experience! Roll on AI for pinecones, it would be pineconic!

The toxis cesspool provides contrast to the positive experiences.

 

[Johnway]

Typical Nintendo **** and all the more reason for me to continue my trend of not buying their stuff. I know they value their property, but there's no reason I should have to pay $60 for a 7 year old game on their hardware and then be locked in to paying for basic stuff like Cloud saves, in addition to paying for games I've already paid for many times over (Switch Online or whatever their emulation is called).

This is just a drop in the bucket. Emulation will continue apace, though it may be more difficult to do as more and more devs remove access to their emulators via the Play store. It's all fine, for the dedicated community, things will continue as usual and for myself, I'll happily continue emulating GBA on my PS Vita or using a flash cart on an actual GBA.

After i wrote my post i decided to look into everyone's opinions on the matter. i suspect nintendo's annoyance was the fact that Yuzu was pateon supported, but even worse they even provided members with the roms/files to play the games as well. So get the latest emulators and BOTW or TOTK to play. So yeah... it porbably slipped into the piracy side of things.

The other problem? the switch is not a retro console. If it had been maybe several years afterwards the switch ceased production, web abilities not operating there would be more favorable.

The other thing? there are other switch emulators, yuzu was merely one of them so there might be a chance for other emulators to rise. i'm in no rush to download or get it.

But then again like gabe says, to beat piracy, you just have to deliver a service that is more appealing. So far nintendo isn't really interested and simply drip feeding their back catalogue in such a way that it makes them incredibly greasy even if its in their right to do so. Besides how popular was emulation circles anyway or pirating? probably a handful compared to those who bought it.

But the bigger tragedy was the loss of citra, the 3ds emulator. online play is being turneed off next month and the 3ds store was turned off last year. Want to get the games? you need to get cartridges or ebay. This is where emulation comes into play and hope that something comes out from it. maybe the switch 2 (or whatever nintendo calls it) will allow for it, but its highly unlikely.

 

[Pifanjr]

Much-loved board game Dune: Imperium has a digital version now, and it's getting rave response

Yeah, I'm Dune: Dune a great board game adaptation.

www.pcgamer.com

Dune: Imperium is one of my favourite boardgames, so I'm happy to see the digital version seems to be well made.

 

[Brian Boru]

Dune: Imperium … the digital version seems to be well made.

And single player looks viable. Never even heard of this, but haven't kept up with board games for years. In my defense, I have had Wingspan wishlisted for years 🙂

 

[Zed Clampet]

And single player looks viable. Never even heard of this, but haven't kept up with board games for years. In my defense, I have had Wingspan wishlisted for years 🙂

There's finally a picross game from legendary makers Jupiter on PC

They've been making these since the 90s and they're pretty good at it.

www.pcgamer.com

@Brian Boru here's another for your wishlist of doom.

 

[BeardyHat]

After i wrote my post i decided to look into everyone's opinions on the matter. i suspect nintendo's annoyance was the fact that Yuzu was pateon supported, but even worse they even provided members with the roms/files to play the games as well. So get the latest emulators and BOTW or TOTK to play. So yeah... it porbably slipped into the piracy side of things.

The other problem? the switch is not a retro console. If it had been maybe several years afterwards the switch ceased production, web abilities not operating there would be more favorable.

The other thing? there are other switch emulators, yuzu was merely one of them so there might be a chance for other emulators to rise. i'm in no rush to download or get it.

But then again like gabe says, to beat piracy, you just have to deliver a service that is more appealing. So far nintendo isn't really interested and simply drip feeding their back catalogue in such a way that it makes them incredibly greasy even if its in their right to do so. Besides how popular was emulation circles anyway or pirating? probably a handful compared to those who bought it.

But the bigger tragedy was the loss of citra, the 3ds emulator. online play is being turneed off next month and the 3ds store was turned off last year. Want to get the games? you need to get cartridges or ebay. This is where emulation comes into play and hope that something comes out from it. maybe the switch 2 (or whatever nintendo calls it) will allow for it, but its highly unlikely.

Yuzu definitely engaged in some questionable ****, that's for sure. Losing Citra kind of sucks, but I'm sure a new emulator will pop-up sooner or later, because people love that system.

I still own mine and have actually been playing it recently and let's just say, you can absolutely acquire games outside of Carts or Ebay and the service is even better than the eShop ever was.

 

[Johnway]

Yuzu definitely engaged in some questionable ****, that's for sure. Losing Citra kind of sucks, but I'm sure a new emulator will pop-up sooner or later, because people love that system.

I still own mine and have actually been playing it recently and let's just say, you can absolutely acquire games outside of Carts or Ebay and the service is even better than the eShop ever was.

Absolutely. if your 3ds has CFW, you'll have an edge over those who do things legitimately and take nintendo's decision lying down. if publishers refuse to support their back catalogues through legitimate methods, other methods become much more appealing when you have little to nothing to lose.

added CFW to my ps vita and now i can play the playstation and psp games on my vita - along with vita games.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Here's a two-minute clip from the Fallout TV series: Walton Goggins terrorizes senior citizens and a Vault dweller gets in over her head

The Brotherhood of Steel drops in to save the day—or does it?

www.pcgamer.com

The clip is so Hollywood it gave me a headache, but it's just a clip. Perhaps the whole is better than this small part. But thanks for reminding me of why I stopped watching television and movies.

 

[Zloth]

<shrug> seems good to me. FAR better than, say, this:

View: https://youtu.be/SO8QWZt7nMw?si=FZFpw3v7AaGRcFq4

 

[Brian Boru]

another for your wishlist

Hey thanks! Just let me check current one:

Hmm, maybe I'll put your one on 'Follow' rather than Wishlist 🙂

 

[Zed Clampet]

<shrug> seems good to me. FAR better than, say, this:

View: https://youtu.be/SO8QWZt7nMw?si=FZFpw3v7AaGRcFq4

You're trying to create a lowball anchor so I'll think, "Hey, this Hollywood cliche clip isn't so bad!" It didn't work, though. In the Fallout scene, just convert it to one of any dreadful Marvel movies and replace the Brotherhood of Steel guy with the superhero of your choice. And I felt sorry for the poor actress from the vault trying to make her lines seem natural.

 

[dxchase]

Dragon's Dogma 2 NPCs are making CPUs weep and tanking the frame rate, but Capcom is 'looking into ways to improve performance in the future'

At the moment, no setups can handle the game's busiest locations well.

www.pcgamer.com

This is worrying to me. Im running a 4080s /12900k and Fraser here is getting 80-100 (im assuming at 4k max settings) FPS with a 4090/13900k in the best areas but down to 30-40 ish in the big city.

Im also not holding my breath that capcom will release something either within the first day of its release or first month on fixing any optimization issues.

Ill report what i manage to get. I loved Dragons Dogma so im willing to deal with framerate issues, just hope it doesnt ruin my time. Also, games should be accessible to all ranges of gpu's and it seems Dragons Dogma 2 wont be one of those games.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Neuralink demonstrates a patient using 'Telepathy' to play games with the power of the mind

A major leap forwards perhaps, although the tech still has a long way to go in testing.

www.pcgamer.com

 

[Pifanjr]

Neuralink demonstrates a patient using 'Telepathy' to play games with the power of the mind

A major leap forwards perhaps, although the tech still has a long way to go in testing.

www.pcgamer.com

It's amazing how fast the development for neuralink has gone. When I first heard about it I didn't think I would be seeing it implanted into a human successfully within a couple of years.

 

[Zed Clampet]

It's amazing how fast the development for neuralink has gone. When I first heard about it I didn't think I would be seeing it implanted into a human successfully within a couple of years.

It's possibly because Elon Musk is bold to the edge of reckless. He's sure as heck is getting things done that way, though. All I know is I'm a "Patient Implant Receiver" TM. I'll let them do a bunch of these before I sign up 🙂

 

[Zloth]

Ill report what i manage to get. I loved Dragons Dogma so im willing to deal with framerate issues, just hope it doesnt ruin my time. Also, games should be accessible to all ranges of gpu's and it seems Dragons Dogma 2 wont be one of those games.

I wouldn't think it would be a big deal. In town, you're normally just chatting and shopping. Even 24 f/s should work fine for that.

 

[Zed Clampet]

I wouldn't think it would be a big deal. In town, you're normally just chatting and shopping. Even 24 f/s should work fine for that.

You know that kind of logic won't work. I've seen people complain about the FPS at the main menu.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Dragon's Dogma 2 is getting absolutely savaged on Steam, with a 'Mostly Negative' rating, but the game deserves better than a launch with such bad optics

It's an exceptional RPG, but the negative sentiment is understandable.

www.pcgamer.com

I'm surprised Capcom finds themselves in this boat. Their games have been really well optimized, every one of them, going back many years. And they've flirted with MTX before, but never gone all out like they did this time. It's disappointing.

 

[Zed Clampet]

'Make a private hosted version of your game': Knockout City dev's top tip for studios shutting down a live service game is to give players the keys

"Ultimately, it keeps the game that everybody at the studio worked so hard on alive forever."

www.pcgamer.com

This is an extremely important topic, I think, as someone who has been forced to play games that are always online. Before devs shut them down for good, as has to happen eventually, either make a private server option or a shared server option or just an offline option.

 

[Brian Boru]

Before devs shut them down for good, as has to happen eventually, either make a private server option or a shared server option or just an offline option

Just a total guess, but I imagine baked-in 3rd-party IP would be a major stumbling block to this, even if devs could do it from a code POV.

 

[Zed Clampet]

Just a total guess, but I imagine baked-in 3rd-party IP would be a major stumbling block to this, even if devs could do it from a code POV.

I doubt that would be much of a stumbling block. No one said there was no work involved. The suggestion came from a developer speaking to developers, so I'm going to assume he knows what it takes. There could be the odd game here and there, very rare cases, where they have some 3rd party asset that can't be used off official servers, as was the case with Worlds Adrift.

The only real barriers most of the time will come from management that doesn't want to spend money on the game anymore.